RE: New here -- how do I read the blood test results on Lyme Disease

[Guest guest]

CJ,

Sounds like your son meets CDC Lyme criteria for the IgM, but not IgG.

Most doctors will say that IgM indicates acute (recent onset) disease while

IgG means past disease. When both IgG and IgM are positive, they then say

that you have chronic disease. Lyme does not necessarily work in this

manner. A " positive " result means that you have Lyme disease. But, it all

depends on which bands are positive. Can you tell us the number next to the

word " reactive " ? Each band means something in particular in regards to

Lyme.

A traditional doctor would look at a CDC positive IgM test result, and treat

him for 10 days to 2-3 weeks. If it were me, I would ask for at least 4

weeks of antibiotics. Then, I would make an appointment with a Lyme

literate doctor for additional treatment and evaluation.

Good luck!

On Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 10:37 PM, caijiao <caijiao@...> wrote:

>

>

> Hi, I don't really have a lot of reasons to suspect of any recent contact

> with ticks for my son, but he kept having skin problems with redness and

> itchiness. Our doctor kept asking us to put HydroCortise on him, which

> seemed to make the redness / itches go away from a while and then it comes

> back (sometimes similar locations and sometimes not). As parents in the

> community are talking about that, and my son has been complaining about

> being tired almost daily (multiple times a day), I decided to get a blood

> test, hoping that would help exclude this possibility,

>

> Well, the test results came back. The first test called " Borrelia

> burgdofeti antibody EIA screening " came back positive, with an index value

> of 1.52 (with >= 1.10 being positive). So the lab automatically did another

> test called western blot, and there are two panels of results. First, IGG: 1

> out 10 numbers came back being " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Negative " .

> Second, IGM: 2 out 3 came back " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Positive " .

>

> What do all these mean? I have been on internet for past few hours and

> still couldn't figure out whether my son has Lyme or not and what I am

> supposed to do. So I joined this group, hoping somebody out there can help

> me out, please.

>

> Thanks,

> C.J.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> Well, the test results came back. The first test called " Borrelia burgdofeti

antibody EIA screening " came back positive, with an index value of 1.52 (with >=

1.10 being positive). So the lab automatically did another test called western

blot, and there are two panels of results. First, IGG: 1 out 10 numbers came

back being " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Negative " . Second, IGM: 2 out 3

came back " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Positive " .

>

> What do all these mean?

Hi,

The way it was explained to me by my LLMD, and he's one of the best in the

field, is that if your IGM is Positive, then you have an active infection. IGM

antibodies are made in reaction to an immediate need, whereas IGG antibodies are

made to a secondary or later response (after encountering an antigen under more

mature conditions). Well, in the case of Lyme, research shows that the body is

so overwhelmed making IGGs, or primary antibodies against the active infection

that you dont really make any IGMs usually until well after the infection is

under control / in remission / eradicated. An ELISA screening test being

positive is unusual as well, that's a very good sign that its a true positive.

Please find a Lyme literate doctor as soon as you can so that appropriate

treatment can begin quickly!

-Maysunshines

[Guest guest]

Sounds similar to my wife's test. Here's some info I read...

-----------------------

Hi - thx for posting your bands - here's the meaning of the bands:

34 - ospB - meaning outer surface protein, specific to Lyme

39 - the most specific antibody reaction to Lyme

41 - the flagella tail for borrelia bacteria in general both 58 and 66 -

heat shock proteins specific to Lyme

On the Dr C site I mentioned in the earlier email, many top Lyme doctors

think people are positive if they have one of the double-starred bands - ie,

really specific for Lyme. By that definition, you have band 39 and that is

the most specific band for Lyme.

Treating doctors go by clinical more than anything - if people are

presenting with symptoms, they get treated. Here's another site to look at

symptoms:

_www.lymeinfo.net/medical/LDsymptoms.pdf_

(http://www.lymeinfo.net/medical/LDsymptoms.pdf)

CFS can be a Lyme presentation.

In your case, I'd say you have a positive test. I'd say the main thing at

this point would be to get to a Lyme-treating doctor if you're not seeing

one yet and discuss treatment. You can find one if you go to

_www.lymenet.org_

(http://www.lymenet.org) and post in the SeekingADoctor section. You can

also read on lymenet as there are patients there 24/7 discussing everything

under the sun related to Lyme, and you can post your questions there too.

Hope this helps!

> [ ] New here -- how do I read the blood test

> results on Lyme Disease

>

> Hi, I don't really have a lot of reasons to suspect of any

> recent contact with ticks for my son, but he kept having skin

> problems with redness and itchiness. Our doctor kept asking

> us to put HydroCortise on him, which seemed to make the

> redness / itches go away from a while and then it comes back

> (sometimes similar locations and sometimes not). As parents

> in the community are talking about that, and my son has been

> complaining about being tired almost daily (multiple times a

> day), I decided to get a blood test, hoping that would help

> exclude this possibility,

>

> Well, the test results came back. The first test called

> " Borrelia burgdofeti antibody EIA screening " came back

> positive, with an index value of 1.52 (with >= 1.10 being

> positive). So the lab automatically did another test called

> western blot, and there are two panels of results. First,

> IGG: 1 out 10 numbers came back being " Reactive " , so the

> conclusion is " Negative " . Second, IGM: 2 out 3 came back

> " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Positive " .

>

> What do all these mean? I have been on internet for past few

> hours and still couldn't figure out whether my son has Lyme

> or not and what I am supposed to do. So I joined this group,

> hoping somebody out there can help me out, please.

>

> Thanks,

> C.J.

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

> For free up to date information about Lyme disease and the known

> co-infections delivered to your email address see:

> Robynns_Lyme_List/

>

[Guest guest]

You son has Lyme. IGG is the antibody set that's made after you've

been sick for a while; it's basically what confers immunity. (I've had

Lyme for decades, and still come up IGG negative.) IgM is the antibody

set that's produced while you're actively fighting an infection.

Which, apparently, your son is.

You don't say how long he's been sick, but he needs to be on

antibiotics (probably doxycycline or azithromycin) ASAP. If it's been

under 3-4 months, a four-week course ought to do it, and your doctor

can help you with this. If it's been longer than that, your doctor

will probably agree to give you the four-week course -- but the odds

are very good that it won't be enough to kill the germs. If the

symptoms return at any point after this treatment, expect your doctor

to ignore them and refuse to treat any further.

At that point, you will be in a whole different territory regarding

your relationship to the medical community -- but let's not get ahead

of ourselves quite yet. If that happens, we're here, and can suggest

next steps.

And get him off the cortisone today. Cortisone is absolutely

contraindicated in Lyme. The bugs LOVE It.

Keep us posted --

Sara

On Aug 3, 2009, at 7:37 PM, caijiao wrote:

> Hi, I don't really have a lot of reasons to suspect of any recent

> contact with ticks for my son, but he kept having skin problems with

> redness and itchiness. Our doctor kept asking us to put HydroCortise

> on him, which seemed to make the redness / itches go away from a

> while and then it comes back (sometimes similar locations and

> sometimes not). As parents in the community are talking about that,

> and my son has been complaining about being tired almost daily

> (multiple times a day), I decided to get a blood test, hoping that

> would help exclude this possibility,

>

> Well, the test results came back. The first test called " Borrelia

> burgdofeti antibody EIA screening " came back positive, with an index

> value of 1.52 (with >= 1.10 being positive). So the lab

> automatically did another test called western blot, and there are

> two panels of results. First, IGG: 1 out 10 numbers came back being

> " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Negative " . Second, IGM: 2 out 3

> came back " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Positive " .

>

> What do all these mean? I have been on internet for past few hours

> and still couldn't figure out whether my son has Lyme or not and

> what I am supposed to do. So I joined this group, hoping somebody

> out there can help me out, please.

>

> Thanks,

> C.J.

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

> For free up to date information about Lyme disease and the known

> co-infections delivered to your email address see:

> Robynns_Lyme_List/

>

[Guest guest]

Sara, That is interesting to know that you have had lyme for decades and

still come up neg on IGG. I actually had an ID doctor tell me that my

daughter could not have lyme because she had symptoms for at least 3 months,

yet her IGG was negative!!!! So frustrating - they don't understand it at

all.

On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Sara

<srobinson@...>wrote:

>

>

> You son has Lyme. IGG is the antibody set that's made after you've

> been sick for a while; it's basically what confers immunity. (I've had

> Lyme for decades, and still come up IGG negative.) IgM is the antibody

> set that's produced while you're actively fighting an infection.

> Which, apparently, your son is.

>

> You don't say how long he's been sick, but he needs to be on

> antibiotics (probably doxycycline or azithromycin) ASAP. If it's been

> under 3-4 months, a four-week course ought to do it, and your doctor

> can help you with this. If it's been longer than that, your doctor

> will probably agree to give you the four-week course -- but the odds

> are very good that it won't be enough to kill the germs. If the

> symptoms return at any point after this treatment, expect your doctor

> to ignore them and refuse to treat any further.

>

> At that point, you will be in a whole different territory regarding

> your relationship to the medical community -- but let's not get ahead

> of ourselves quite yet. If that happens, we're here, and can suggest

> next steps.

>

> And get him off the cortisone today. Cortisone is absolutely

> contraindicated in Lyme. The bugs LOVE It.

>

> Keep us posted --

>

> Sara

>

> On Aug 3, 2009, at 7:37 PM, caijiao wrote:

>

> > Hi, I don't really have a lot of reasons to suspect of any recent

> > contact with ticks for my son, but he kept having skin problems with

> > redness and itchiness. Our doctor kept asking us to put HydroCortise

> > on him, which seemed to make the redness / itches go away from a

> > while and then it comes back (sometimes similar locations and

> > sometimes not). As parents in the community are talking about that,

> > and my son has been complaining about being tired almost daily

> > (multiple times a day), I decided to get a blood test, hoping that

> > would help exclude this possibility,

> >

> > Well, the test results came back. The first test called " Borrelia

> > burgdofeti antibody EIA screening " came back positive, with an index

> > value of 1.52 (with >= 1.10 being positive). So the lab

> > automatically did another test called western blot, and there are

> > two panels of results. First, IGG: 1 out 10 numbers came back being

> > " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Negative " . Second, IGM: 2 out 3

> > came back " Reactive " , so the conclusion is " Positive " .

> >

> > What do all these mean? I have been on internet for past few hours

> > and still couldn't figure out whether my son has Lyme or not and

> > what I am supposed to do. So I joined this group, hoping somebody

> > out there can help me out, please.

> >

> > Thanks,

> > C.J.

> >

> >

> >

> > ------------------------------------

> >

> > For free up to date information about Lyme disease and the known

> > co-infections delivered to your email address see:

> > Robynns_Lyme_List/

> >